A sound like muddled paper flapping - crossover problem?

S

skeptic555

Audiophyte
My old warhorse Velodyne VA-810 (currently 15 years old) seemingly cannot handle the load these days. Bass it used to handle with dignity and grace now sounds muddles or like paper flapping when there is any kind of volume. (still handles the lower volumes OK). Since the thing is a tank, I cant look around at the hardware too easily - and since there *is* a relatively new receiver in the game, I figured lets start by looking at wiring and crossovers and such.

The VA-810 has line in and line out jacks, as well as speaker wire in and out, and a 1-10 "Subwoofer level" dial. The Hi Pass Crossover is FIXED at 85Hz.

Its hooked up to the Pioneer VSX-1015TX receiver via the receiver's dedicated subwoofer pre-out, one cable to the sub's left channel line in.

In the pioneer, I can set the sub to crossover at 50, 80, 100, 150, or 200, but frankly I can't hear a difference between the highest and lowest setting when testing.

The subs manual states that some receivers have a Sub Pre-out jack that is "already crossed over" and "since the subwoofer has a built in crossover, connect the Velodyne to the front or main channel outputs of your receiver" as "combining the crossovers will result in low gain and increased noise"

Now, I do have a center Pre-out and front L/R pre-outs available on the Pio - but is this the appropriate solution?(yeah, i know the solution is to start plugging and unplugging, but like many setups, its wired to within an inch of its life and undoing and re-doing that is no fun).

Am I missing something else obvious at work here?
 
the grunt

the grunt

Audioholic
Hi,

Have you watched the driver when it makes this noise. With a driver that old the surround could be deteriorating and or separating from the cone.

I think your best bet is to use the receiver’s pre-out to the sub’s line in as you have it now. Since it already has a built in 85Hz low pass filter just set the receiver’s crossover as high as it will go to take it out of the mix, unless you actually want a lower crossover the 85 in which case you should probably go much lower like 50Hz to avoid cascading crossovers, where they reinforce each other.

Cheers,
Dean
 
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S

skeptic555

Audiophyte
thanks. Sub is front firing with a "down firing passive radiator" but the front grill is not removable (at least not without a fight - hence the "tank"). But I did see an excellent idea in another post about hooking up analog out (ie audio CD) direct to the RCA ins which should at least least establish if the crappy sound is hardware (as opposed to crossover) related.

A test for tomorrow, based on the hour, I suppose. Shakespeare noted once you hit midnite its no longer late, its "early," but then again the Bard wasn't testing subwoofers...
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Audioholic Jedi
thanks. Sub is front firing with a "down firing passive radiator" but the front grill is not removable (at least not without a fight - hence the "tank"). But I did see an excellent idea in another post about hooking up analog out (ie audio CD) direct to the RCA ins which should at least least establish if the crappy sound is hardware (as opposed to crossover) related.

A test for tomorrow, based on the hour, I suppose. Shakespeare noted once you hit midnite its no longer late, its "early," but then again the Bard wasn't testing subwoofers...
I really doubt this is a crossover problem. The problem is going to be with the driver or passive radiator. It is likely either a problem with the surrounds flapping or the suspensions. If it sounds like paper flapping, there probably is paper flapping.

More than likely a refoaming or reconing of one or both of the units is going to be required. Because of the age of the unit, it is questionable if it is worth it. The LFE channel was not around 15 years ago. The mechanical integrity of drivers has had to be improved to cope.
 
S

skeptic555

Audiophyte
Indeed, plugging an MP3 player directly into the RCA inputs results in the same poor quality sound. Sigh. Looks like I will be shopping for subwoofers.

One can't really complain about 15 years of loyal service, I guess.

At least I've found a forum where recommendations are readily available.

Much appreciate the comments!
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
Indeed, plugging an MP3 player directly into the RCA inputs results in the same poor quality sound. Sigh. Looks like I will be shopping for subwoofers.

One can't really complain about 15 years of loyal service, I guess.

At least I've found a forum where recommendations are readily available.

Much appreciate the comments!
That is true, the subwoofer owes you knowing. Modern subwoofers generally sport Rubber surrounds, or some sort of hybrid. Let us know when you're ready to shop and we can help there too.

SheepStar
 
M

mnatiq

Audioholic
i think i have the same problem, i cant get it rite. ,my sub is 6 months old.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Audioholic Jedi
i think i have the same problem, i cant get it rite. ,my sub is 6 months old.
Is the sub from this system?

That is a HTIB system. That would not likely be a very robust sub, and you have probably over driven it. If it is six months old, you should be able to get a replacement under warranty. When you get your replacement turn it down!
 
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